1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document management apparatus that stores and manages document information, as well as a method and computer readable storage medium therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A document management apparatus can store a great amount of document information available for a large number of users. Conventionally, the document information is classified into a folder structure according to a user of the document management apparatus. When the user handles the document information stored in the document management apparatus, the user can search for the target document information by a folder name. Further, by using a search function of an operation system (OS) or an application, the user can search for a keyword included in a name, type, and edition date of the document information, as well as in a text in a document, to find the target document information.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-185020 discusses a conventional technique for displaying event information within a certain range of time including a registration date or an update date of a searched document, as well as results of searching the document based on a keyword specified by a user. The event information refers to various types of events such as a conference, a discussion for materials, an arrangement, a product test, and various types of meetings. The technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-185020 enables a user to re-search and to narrow down the search of the document based on the event information.
Meanwhile, for users involved in a product development project for a manufacturer, it is desirable that a past project including similar development phases can be referred to for information such as ways to prepare materials. More specifically, in a planning phase in the early stage of a project, a specification that summarizes a user's requests and analytical data concerning an external environment are frequently referred to, or newly generated. Further, in the succeeding designing phase, a product design document is frequently referred to or newly generated.
However, the above-described conventional technique does not focus on project work which is done in similar phases, and thus does not discuss any means for promoting efficiency in document information search for project work.